Shattered Realms [Prototype]

Comments

@Tightrope I've seen this problem before, all you need to do is download the latest DirectX runtime libraries and install them (has to do with the shaders we're using in the game). You can get them here:DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010)

@ennohex Thanks for all the amazing feedback this weekend, the local FGC is just sooo amazing :D Seriously, you guys rock! I will keep you updated with the latest builds (every month or so) so you can put it through its paces and then let me know where it breaks. Those infinites :)

And to everyone who stopped by the stand this weekend to show their support, thank you so much, we really appreciate it. You really refuelled our reserves with vigour to make this the best we can make it.

Hey, I played the game at EGE, and here is aI played for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes, which was about all the time I had since I had to return to our table, and I only got to see the sharks, not http://orig15.deviantart.net/1a75/f/2016/210/0/9/shattered_realms___boss_mode_by_pieterator-dabweqp.pngI'm not sure how long others played for, but it could be better to just have one shark wave at the beginning before going through to stage 2 (etc. - I don't know what happened after I killed the 2 shark waves).But maybe I just sucked :P

Also, this has progressed a lot since the first build I played, nice work!

i want to try this out but I run into the following error even before the "insert coin" screen. "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\d3dcompiler_43.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error."I know this is a problem with my PC and not with the executable. Any advice? I've downloaded and replaced the .dll and reinstalled DirectX 12 but to no avail.

Hey man, just install the latest DirectX User-Runtime drivers and that should solve it :)Hope that helps

Please can you provide the ability to re-bind the keys? "N" and "M" are not obvious Accept and Cancel keys and I had a devil of a time just trying to just navigate the menu until I looked at the OP for instructions.

@Fengol I'm so sorry that the controls are causing you frustration. Rebinding keys is definitely functionality we want to add, I just haven't been able to get to it yet. It probably won't make it into the Amaze build either, but after that we will be fleshing out the menus, and it will be one of the first things that gets added.

After showcasing our game at EGE, Sigma, a prominent member of the local fighting game community, made this amazing video showing just what the Bullet Elf is capable of.

It's only when the game is put of the hands of fighting game enthusiasts that it really shines :D I can't begin to describe how welcoming and kind the fighting game community is. It inspires us to make Shattered Realms the best it can be.

For everyone who are not able to attend A Maze, here is the latest build that we will be showcasing during the following week. There are a lot of small graphical and audio updates, as well as some much needed juice (my favourite part of game dev :), though no oil yet (sorry key config, pause menus, etc).

There was much squealing and spleeing when we published it :D But now begins the process of slowly building a community around Shattered Realms, taking their comments and feedback to make it the best game it can be. There is still a (very) long road ahead of us, but hopefully this helps us lay a solid foundation to build our game on.

For those who love trailers (I know I do), here's the itch.io trailer Deon put together for us.I'll be sure to keep this thread updated with any breaking news that happens over on the itch page ;)

Though, I think the smudge frames on the sword could be done slightly differently.

In particular, on the downward sword attack, there are two frames during the smudge with the same silloette, the white frame and then the one afterwards. It sort of feels like the sword stretches rather than is moving (as it is pausing on a smudge frame).

And then the sword-edge on the bottom of the downward sword attack (at the bottom of the sword) shifts oddly as the detail comes in at the end of the attack (as the smudge catches up).

I've made a gif with these minor tweaks, the frame after the white flash is already catching up with the sword attack (so the movement doesn't feel like it pauses there), and the outline at the bottom of the sword holds its form better (though I'm not sure my solution for the detail coming in is right for this art style).

I feel like the poses are a bit stiff (i.e. they look like body parts were copy-pasted around), with minimal squash and stretch. I feel like that's a bit of a pity, because it's one thing that generally makes 3D fighting games look worse than their 2D counter-parts in my opinion; there's a looseness and exaggeration that I find beautiful in 2D animation that I don't think you're capitalising on here. At the same time, I know that that looseness comes at a cost (it takes a while to do), so I also understand if not taking that route's a conscious decision.

Hey Guys, Just letting you know that we have in fact, been working on the title still. And to a much greater extent, and will be showing off some work by the end of next week. Sorry about the lack of updates, but we are terrible at this sort of thing (ie Updates) So stay tuned, and sharpen your wits, because big things are coming!

Hey everyone, over the last couple of months we have putting our heads down building the world of Shattered Realms. We were super fortunate to entice a very talented local artist, Malcolm Wope, to help us out, and together with @dawidstrauss, have been building the characters and world of Shattered Realms.

In the next few months we're going to be putting together promotional art that will represent what we envision the final production quality of the game will be in order to gauge if there is enough of an audience for what we're creating.

We would love to hear from you guys, and get some feedback on the art, and where it's headed. We've been using the local game dev community as a sounding board since the game started, and it's improved the quality way beyond what we could have accomplish on our own. Thank you for every smile, encouragement, high five and above all, every soul crushing reality check, we take them all to heart. :D

Overall, I love the direction! :D I'd like to leave more, better feedback, but I'm kind of crunching at the moment because I found out this morning that work's a bit tighter than I thought it was. I may find time tonight.

I've been staring at it tonight, and like it more and more. I like how vibrant and colourful it is, and the great shape language.

I feel like there are a handful of different time periods that are being explored; some of it looks ancient and gothic (cultists, gargoyles, stone architecture, fantasy-like tropes), some looks quite contemporary, and some of the fashion has futuristic glows and clothing-patterns next to fantasy symbolism, and then there are some aliens/monsters in the mix. I think this is great in terms of trying different things out -- it's what concept art should be. Are there ones in particular that you're leaning toward (in which case perhaps your iteration/exploration focuses more on that)?

I'd like to see more of a sense of purpose, especially in the enemy designs. If he's wearing a gasmask, maybe he should have some kind of gaseous spray or flamethrower, to give the gasmask place, but also to make it easier to read how this person is likely to fight? If she's got a head of teeth, perhaps that should be exaggerated more so that the teeth-head is very obviously dangerous, rather than simply being alien? I think having a type of attack (not necessarily mechanically -- you don't have to have designed the attacks already -- but just in terms of a theme) be the base around which the rest of the character's visuals is designed doesn't just make it easier for the viewer/future-player to read what's likely to be going on in your game, but it also helps to avoid some of the more generic designs (e.g. just a big, muscular dude). (There's a point at which the archetypes get boring, and there's certainly space for designing more complex characters with more surprises in them, but I think that having the first few be easier to read is a good thing.)

I'm not sure if that first character is a main character (her pixel art version looks damn cool), but in the painting her eye looks off. It seems too far to the side for her to be a cyclops, but too close to the middle of the head (and a little too high up) to match the read of a normal human being.

Lastly, I feel like it's easy to let the pressure of success cause significant anxiety (especially when you've got some damn fine artists working on this project), and that that can sometimes be crippling (I know from first-hand experience, at least with that last part anyway :D). I just want to say I love you guys, and you're winners in my eyes, whatever your work looks like and however the game turns out.

That is one hell of a visual upgrade. I can't wait to see the game in action with the new assets. Sorry that I can't offer any in-depth critique. I just wanted to pop in and say keep up the great work! :)

@MrBexy@dammit Thanks guys, we really appreciate the support, so much of ourselves is going into this project :)

@BenJets I believe it's a ferret, and in the lore he's not a pet, he's actually the big guys wrestling couch, teaching him the ropes as it were :D

@Elyaradine Thanks for all the amazing in depth feedback. We were actually discussing some of the points you made this afternoon. You're right, as amazing as the art looks, we're still hunting for that secret glue that's going to tie everything together as a cohesive whole. And thank you for the encouraging words, it spoke to all of us ;)

Here is some of the sprite work that @dawidstrauss has been putting together for us. We are drawing a lot of inspiration from Hyper Light Drifter and also the gorgeous Dead Cells. Focusing on detailed backgrounds and characters being more flat-shaded and stylised.

I'm really stoked with the amount of progress he's made in such a short amount of time.

The cavern-like environment looks a lot better than the street imo. The street looks quite flat, and the gradients in the windows in particular remind me of old Flash games (in a "cheap"-looking way). I hope that makes sense.

@dawidstraussSomething about the gradients in the backgrounds vs the cell shading on the characters is causing some dissonance for me, personally would like to see the same treatment for the background as the characters, with a light and shadow color.

The run cycle for the blue hair character seems the center of gravity is too far back making it feel quite light, be conscious that during a run cycle the less up and down movement there is the more weightless feeling will be, good for tippy toe ninjas and ballerinas.

The impact of the punch feels soft because the spacing is too even through the movement, maybe consider favoring the windup to give more oomph to the impact frame. Favoring in the whole pose not just the arm, the twisting the hips and legs so that it really snaps into the contact position will give it powah.

It's awesome that Malcolm has joined the realm, you guys are going to create some mad work for this game!Oh I also really really like the graphic shapes of the impact effects, and dude in the white suit.

@Pomp, thanks for all the thoughtful feedback :) I've spoken with the art team, and they all agree on the points you've raised. As the assets are going into the game we'll be sure to tweak them, especially that Gigaton Punch, it needs to hit like a truck!

We've reached the end of our incubation with Free Lives, So tonight at midnight(CAT) we're launching it as a demo on itch.io

So. very. happy.

We decided to pare it down a little from some of our earlier ambitions, in terms of stages and narrative components, and focus in even more intently on the combat systems, mechanics, and feedback. So this version is even juicier and more intense than anything you've seen so far. We also opted to only allow 2 players instead of the full 4, because we feel that the 4 player mode is not representative of the quality we want to present.

Currently waiting on the trailer, I'll post again when I have actionable things to link to. In the meantime we have:

Really cool :D!The visual effects are great. Combo's feel good and I can rely on them to help me progress. Wish I had a downward dash or upward dash on the floor to get out of tight spots.I like the bit of story at the start, I was wanting more story a bit earlier, perhaps the main character saying something about their surroundings etc.Looking forward to more of Shattered Realms :D